LEADER JEFFRIES: "PRESIDENT BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS WILL CONTINUE TO WORK HARD TO PUT PEOPLE OVER POLITICS"
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined DPCC Chair Joe Neguse and DPCC Co-Chairs Veronica Escobar, Lauren Underwood and Dean Phillips for a press conference ahead of President Biden's State of the Union address.
CHAIR NEGUSE: This morning, we heard from the White House to get a sense as to the President's remarks later this evening during his historic State of the Union address. I believe that we are going to hear the President deliver tonight a message that is hopeful and that is optimistic about the future of our great country. I believe we'll hear a message that is rooted in discussing the various ways in which the House Democratic Caucus, working in tandem with our colleagues in the Senate and with the White House, have delivered for the American people, delivered in terms of historic job growth, delivered in terms of lowering health care costs, delivered for veterans and enacting historic health benefits for our nation's veterans, delivered on bipartisan gun violence prevention legislation that was enacted just last year. There remain big challenges and big opportunities for us to address, and we look forward to working with the President in the months and the years ahead to do precisely that.
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LEADER JEFFRIES: Good morning everyone, an honor and privilege to be here with all of you and Chair Neguse and Co-Chair Escobar, Co-Chair Underwood and Co-Chair Phillips, collectively, the DPCC is doing an extraordinary job at making sure that we continue to communicate with the American people both what we've done, as well as our vision for the future.
Tonight at the State of the Union Address, as House Democrats, we're excited to welcome President Joe Biden once again to the chambers of the House of Representatives to speak directly to the American people. Yes, about our accomplishments, the American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years, the Respect for Marriage Act, the PACT Act to stand up for our veterans and certainly the Inflation Reduction Act to strike a dramatic blow against the climate crisis, set our planet on a sustainable trajectory forward, stand up a clean energy economy, lower energy costs, strengthen the Affordable Care Act, drive down the high price of life-saving prescription drugs, including capping insulin at $35 a month for millions of seniors across the land.
It's a track record of extraordinary accomplishment and we'll share that continuously with the American people, not to say reward us, but to say trust us. We have your back. President Biden and Democrats in the House and the Senate will continue to work hard to put People Over Politics to deliver real results for everyday Americans. And at the same time, we recognize that there is more work that needs to be done. And it's my expectation that President Biden will thoroughly and thoughtfully lay that out for the American people. We're going to build upon our track record of success and continue to fight for lower costs, for better-paying jobs, for safer communities to make sure we stand up for middle class Americans, for working class Americans, for seniors, for young people, for veterans and for all of those Americans who aspire to be part of the great American middle class. President Biden is a blue collar president. He's a pro-union president and he's a pro-middle class president. It's in his bones, it's in his DNA, it's in his background. That is who Joe Biden is. That is who House Democrats are and that is who we will continue to be in delivering For The People.
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CO-CHAIR ESCOBAR: We are excited about tonight's State of the Union address and to hear from the President of the United States about how Democrats deliver. As we begin the month of February, let's look back on the first month of Republicans and what they have done as they have had their opportunity to lead in the House. They told us that they wanted to fight inflation. We saw out of the gate, they were fighting each other. They told us that they wanted to help rebuild America, they have focused instead on tearing down the IRS, on resolutions about socialism, nothing that helps the American people, while Democrats continue to focus on delivering for the American public. We are going to hear from the President about the great work that we have done, not just over the last two years, but the work that we expect to do ahead and we are willing to work with any Republican when and if they decide to put the American people first.
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CO-CHAIR UNDERWOOD: Tonight, we're welcoming President Biden to Capitol Hill and celebrating the accomplishments that we have made together on behalf of the American people. Because Democrats deliver on our promises. Over the last two years, we've made historic investments in our infrastructure and created millions of better-paying jobs. We've made health care more affordable. We passed my legislation lowering premium prices for millions of Americans, giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices and we've made sure that no senior would have to pay more than $35 a month for their insulin. We've delivered on our promises to get health care to veterans facing the impact of toxic exposure and to build high speed broadband across the country. The list goes on and on. Now, Democrats have been delivering for the American people, but we also have to be on defense. This extreme Republican majority is pushing an agenda that will devastate our communities. Democrats are here to defend the people we represent.
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CO-CHAIR PHILLIPS: When President Biden was elected, he promised to restore competency and reduce chaos and to restore the soul of our nation. [...] And I want to remind all of you and the country that we believe in delivering for the American people, not demeaning them. We believe in defending American freedoms and not destroying them. We believe in constructing bridges, not burning them. We believe in lifting people up, not leaving them behind. We believe in decency and not division. In cooperation and not confrontation. We believe in safety for all, like I said, not just for some. And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we believe in competency over chaos. And if there is not a more important message for the American people and for all of us to remind ourselves where we were just a few years ago and where we are today [...] At the end of the day, President Biden has delivered the most important thing that this country's ever needed, and that is competency in lieu of chaos.
Full press conference can be watched here.